The summer the young girl was in her seventeenth year she went to
church one Sunday with her parents. On the way she had worn a
shawl, which she slipped off when she came to the church knoll.
Then everybody noticed that she was wearing a dress such as had
never before been seen in the parish.
A travelling merchant, one of the kind that goes about with a huge
pack on his back, had found his way to the Ashdales, and on seeing
Glory Goldie in all the glow and freshness of her youth he had
taken from his pack a piece of dress goods which he tried to induce
her parents to buy for her. The cloth was a changeable red, of a
texture almost like satin and as costly as it was beautiful. Of
course Jan and Katrina could not afford to buy for their girl a
dress of that sort, though Jan, at least, would have liked nothing
better.
Fancy! When the merchant had vainly pressed and begged the parents
for a long while he grew terribly excited because he could not have
his way. He said he had set his heart on their daughter having the
dress, that he had not seen another girl in the whole parish who
would set it off as well as she could. Whereupon he had measured
and cut off as much of the cloth as was needed for a frock, and
presented it to Glory Goldie. He did not want any payment, all he
asked was to see the young girl dressed in the red frock the next
time he came to Ruffluck.
Afterward the frock was made up by the best seamstress in the
parish, the one who sewed for the young ladies at Lövdala Manor,
and when Glory Goldie tried it on the effect was so perfect that
one would have thought the two had blossomed together on one of the
lovely wild briar bushes out in the forest.
The Sunday Glory Goldie showed herself at church in her new dress,
nothing could have kept Jan and Katrina at home, so curious were
they to hear what folks would say.
And it turned out, as has been said, that everybody noticed the red
dress. When the astonished folk had looked at it once they turned
and looked again; the second time, however, they glanced not only
at the dress but at the young girl who wore it.
Some had already heard the story of the dress. Others wanted to
know how it happened that a poor cotter's lass stood there in such
fine raiment. Then of course Katrina and Jan had to tell them all
about the travelling merchant's visit, and when they learned how it
had come about they were all glad that Fortuna had thought of
taking a little peep into the humble home down in the Ashdales.
There were sons of landed proprietors who declared that if this girl
had been of less humble origin they would have proposed to her then
and there. And there were daughters of landed proprietors--some of
them heiresses--who said to themselves that they would have given
half of their possessions for a face as rosy and young and radiant
with health as hers.
That Sunday the Dean of Bro preached at the Svartsjö church,
instead of the regular pastor. The dean was an austere, old
fashioned divine who could not abide extravagance in any form,
whether in dress or other things.
Seeing the young girl in the bright red frock he must have thought
she was arrayed in silk, for immediately after the service he told
the sexton to call the girl and her parents, as he wished to speak
with them. Even he noticed that the girl and the dress went well
together, but for all that he was none the less displeased.
"My child," he said, laying his hand on Glory Goldie's shoulder, "I
have something I want to say to you. Nobody could prevent me from
wearing the vestments of a bishop, if I so wished; but I never do
it because I don't want to appear to be something more than what I
am. For the same reason you should not dress as though you were a
young lady of quality, when you are only the daughter of a poor
crofter."
These were cutting words, and poor Glory Goldie was so dismayed she
could not answer. But Katrina promptly informed him that the girl
had received the cloth as a gift.
"Be that as it may," spoke the dean. "But parents, can't you
comprehend that if you allow your daughter to array herself once or
twice in this fashion she will never again want to put on the kind
of clothes you are able to provide for her?"
Now that the dean had spoken his mind in plain words he turned
away; but before he was out of earshot Jan was ready with a retort.
"If this little girl could be clothed as befits her, she would be
as gorgeous as the sun itself," said he. "For a sunbeam of joy she
has been to us since the day she was born."
The dean came back and regarded the trio thoughtfully. Both Katrina
and Jan looked old and toil worn, but the eyes in their furrowed
faces shone when they turned them toward the radiant young being
standing between them.
Then the dean felt it would be a shame to mar the happiness of
these two old people. Addressing himself to the young girl, he said
in a mild voice:
"If it is true that you have been a light and a comfort to your
poor parents, then you may well wear your fine dress with a good
grace. For a child that can bring happiness to her father and
mother is the best sight that our eyes may look upon."